I've just stumbled onto a "belief questionnaire" that is supposed to clue one in on where he or she belongs, in terms of religio, cultus, doctrina. The context/bias is American, I'd say. It's just Internet fluff but it could be fun to see the results. The link is:

I bumped into that quiz a long time ago, and have been a fan of the BeliefNet site for a long time. I have no idea anymore what my results were then; but I thank you for the opportunity to revisit it. Here's Marius for today:1. Hinduism (100%)2. Jainism (95%)3. Bahá'í Faith (91%)4. Mahayana Buddhism (91%)5. Unitarian Universalism (80%) <-- the only one of my likelies that I might actually find in this town6. Liberal Quakers (74%) <-- first Christian denomination to put in an appearance on my list7. Neo-Pagan (74%) <--many of the people I actually get along with8. Sikhism (72%)9. Orthodox Judaism (71%)10. Reform Judaism (68%)11. Theravada Buddhism (68%)12. Islam (67%)13. Orthodox Quaker (63%) <-- only the second Christian denom to turn up14. New Age (62%) <--most of the rest of the people I actually get along with15. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (61%)16. Taoism (58%) <-- personal favorite of the list so far21. Secular Humanism (41%) <-- most strangers think I'm this, and I let 'em; at least there's some intellectual content22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (39%) (my area's infested with these people; they give me a hard time, so I make it my business to scare 'em)Anything that scored lower (the last was "Non-Theist" at 29%) has probably been run off the porch by myself or the puppy-dogs at least once in the last ten years. Twice for the ones who've actually knocked. <feg>

Actually, SelectSmart quizzes like this one are part of the SVR's heritage. Look on the site and you will find several, most along the lines of "Which Roman (Emperor, philosopher, poet) do you most closely resemble?"; there's also one that'll match you up with a classical religion or philosophy. (I scored as a Cynic.)

These quizzes often ask for your e-mail address. They will retain it if provided, in a list accessible to the quiz's author. We don't use them anymore, but those lists were some of our earliest recruiting tools.

Salvete omnes!> Too bad they don't analyze for Stoicism and Epicureanism.Ahh, but we do...! If you go to the Collegium Philosophiarum's "Essays and Articles" page on the SVR Web site (you know, the one I've been feeding and fussing over for the last couple of years?), you'll find another quiz put together by our own Q Pomponius Atticus. Its theme: "Which Classical Philosophy suits you best?" I guarantee you'll find Stoicism and Epicureanism therein, as well as Platonism, Aristotelianism, Sophism, Cynicism and other gems.> Hey, when I post in my barbarous Latin, is it a problem for you all, amici mi?Not in my corner, mi Iohanne! My own Latin is, shall we say, rusticus at best, and Ianiculan when it approaches "Roman" at all. Your words of wisdom and sincere friendship are welcome in any format, and your willingness to make them even with the experts looking on increases my own comfort-level substantially.

I myself (ego ipse) caught myself sending PMs to varii here like Marius without translating to English portions of my message. Most here are familiar with basic Latin, and should be able to figure out what little gems you happen to leave.

However, I must question the grammar of this sentence: ego quoque aestimo quaestionarii questiones super Christianitatis notionem sint factae.

The first few results sit well with me. I've probablly osaked up some of the MAhayan from my father. The "mainline Prot" has me wondering about something. And Catholic way at the bottom. I liked not having any jehovah Winess in my ...[?], but being more 7th Day Adentist than Catholic is wierd. Not that I'm a wanna be Papist, but 7th Day Adventist!?!?!?! well, it ain't rocket sciene, though the Scientology doesn't phase me. I dont think thye know what they're about either. Enough jabbering. Here's my results. Ovum ad malum.

I can't scare you...you're a Roman!! That one single thing, that commonality, overrides all else in the Societas Via Romana. We're rare enough, we're thin enough on the ground, that we can't really afford to turn any Roman away for any reason not having to do with his or her personal conduct.

Na, I save the light projectiles for the kinds of people who use religion to try to tell me what to do, think, feel, or believe. You know, the ones who say I can't just find God, I have to find Him in church--their church, of course; or that if I haven't undergone this-or-that ritual I'm not a real adherent; or that if enough people are made nervous by the way I am, I need to either become someone else or leave the assembly. (I actually took them up on that, out of respect; which is why I celebrate my God down by the creek in the middles of thunderstorms, and not anywhere more mannerly or constricted.)

Nobody persecutes here, and nobody evangelises. Each member comes into the discussion with his or her own background, preconceptions, sometimes misconceptions, experiences and beliefs. We share them in a spirit of enjoying each others' company and of expanding our awareness of the wisdom that dwells within every tradition. Some of us have had unhappy encounters with other sets of beliefs, or sometimes with our own, and our comments will reflect this at times. But for a friendly, level-headed, yet heartfelt conversation about spirituality, our own and others', the Collegium Religionem is one of the most comfortable venues I've participated in...the other one being late nights backstage at the Renaissance Faires, where philosophy and spirit wheel as freely as the falconer's birds, or the stars overhead in their courses.

We've always heard "Christians" and "Romans" in the media presented as if they were two opposing sides of something. Frequently forgotten on both the Christian and the "pagan" ends of the debate are that very many of the early Christians were Roman citizens, including military men like myself (thus giving the lie to those who held that Christianity was only fit for the weak).

I've a bone to pick with St Augustine of Hippo, who in his City of God dismissed just about all the Roman cultural values as mere pride and vainglory. Those values mean more to me than anything any Church official, of any denomination, has to say about them. Furthermore, I don't find them incompatible with the values of Christianity; to put it in computer talk, either OS, if run properly, will turn out a damn fine human being. Anyone who can respect that approach has nothing at all to fear from Wolf-Marius and his variable cohort of small but vigorous dogs. >({|:-) }(:o}In amicitia et fide,

Aldus Marius wrote:We've always heard "Christians" and "Romans" in the media presented as if they were two opposing sides of something. Frequently forgotten on both the Christian and the "pagan" ends of the debate are that very many of the early Christians were Roman citizens, including military men like myself (thus giving the lie to those who held that Christianity was only fit for the weak).

Yes, it's often forgotten that the "founder" of Christianity outside the Judean provinces was the Roman citizen Paul and that the first non-Jewish follower of "The Way" (as recorded in the New Testament) was my namesake Cornelius the Centurion of Caesarea Maritima.